"Integrating RTI into your classrooms is not a quick fix. An open mind and a lot of patience are essential, as it often requires a paradigm shift for educators." [Read full story »]
— Mary Anne Lesiak, Director of Education, AppleTree Institute for Education Innovation, DC
When implementing RTI, is there a recommended ratio of students to teachers at different tiers of intervention?
Response from Amanda VanDerHeyden, Ph.D.: The feature that distinguishes one tier of intervention from another is intensity. Tier 1 intervention is typical instruction to which all students in the class are exposed...[read full response]
Welcome to the RTI Blog! Every week we will have a new editorial from an experienced implementer and/or researcher who will be posting commentary about common, emerging, or controversial issues regarding RTI. Readers are invited to post their reactions and thoughts.
The Importance of Leadership in RTI
Written by Bob Heimbaugh, Principal, Tongue River Elementary, WY, on January 29, 2010
When thinking about the role of leadership in the RTI process, I always think about the term "instructional leader." If you were to ask 10 people to provide a definition of the term, you would get 10 different definitions or interpretations. As a matter of fact, if you were to do a search on-line, the one thing that would become apparent is that the only agreement that can be made about the term is that it is hard to define. The four most common terms used to describe an instructional leader found in the literature are: 1) principal as resource provider, 2) principal as instructional resource, 3) principal as communicator, and 4) principal who is visible and engaged. We all know that if we are to implement RTI well, the building principal’s involvement in the process is one of the most important aspects of successful implementation. For RTI to happen in a school, the principal must be the head "instructional leader" who is behind the model one hundred percent.
Written by Jared Moretti, Principal, Laura Irwin Elem./Spec. Ed. Dir., Big Horn County School District #4, WY, on January 12, 2010
As I mentioned before in previous blogs, there is a very strong correlation between behavior and academic success in the classroom. Great gains can be in made in academic achievement by creating a positive environment where students feel welcome and safe. Also, by cutting down on behavior issues in the classroom, teachers will be more effective when not being interrupted or distracted by student misbehavior. Please understand, we are absolutely not advocating students sit in neat little rows of desks like robots. Students must be taught to make responsible choices that are conducive to creating a positive and smooth-running classroom.
Written by Bob Heimbaugh, Principal, Tongue River Elementary, WY, on December 10, 2009
The sustained change we seek through the implementation of an RTI model in our schools is no easy task. We ask professionals who have worked in classrooms for many years to evaluate and change their practice...practices they have developed and honed over time. As we ask teachers to move away from their established practices, we need to be cautious. RTI asks teachers to implement scientifically-based research in the classroom. How we as schools approach professional development and implementation of instruction and how we gather implementation feedback are keys to effective scientifically-based research applications in our schools.
Written by Jared Moretti, Principal, Laura Irwin Elem./Spec. Ed. Dir., Big Horn County School District #4, WY, on November 30, 2009
In our experience with RTI, we have really made a transition to look at data and, more importantly, look at what the data are telling us. As long as you have good data, the data will tell you who needs an intervention, what intervention they need, and whether the intervention is working. I have seen schools that have a lot of data but do not have the desire, the means, or the time to look at and interpret the data. Why waste the time collecting it if you are not going to use it and use it well to help students? With that being said, here is how we use some of our data in our RTI model.
Let's get serious in special education: RtI is here to stay...Deal with it!
Written by Stevan J. Kukic, Ph.D., Vice President, Cambium Learning/Sopris West, on November 16, 2009
I am a proud special educator. I believe that at its best, special education can, and does in some cases, offer a student individualized service that promotes increased performance. I believe in the IEP process as it was first conceptualized. What a good idea to bring a family and school people together to plan a yearly program. I believe in special education that focuses on evidence-based practice, on practice that must evolve over time as more research teaches us to adapt, refine, change. I believe in special education delivered in the context of Response to Intervention (RtI), our best chance ever to bring together special and general education into one system, designed to deliver success for ALL students.
Written by Lauren Campsen, Principal, Ocean View Elementary School, VA, on November 06, 2009
I am often asked about how my school plans for all the different tiers of interventions we have at Ocean View. To be honest, we are finding an ever increasing need for more and more planning as we move deeper and deeper into RTI. We have also learned that flexibility is essential. Monitoring of on-going data drives the need to make constant changes, both to intervention group membership and to schedules.
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Welcome to the RTI Blog! Every week we will have a new editorial from an experienced implementer and/or researcher who will be posting commentary about common, emerging, or controversial issues regarding RTI. Readers are invited to post their reactions and thoughts. 
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